The Dark Shadow
by gryffindorhobbit
Summary: Bethany, and her friends Ruby, Patrick, Kiara and others have adventures at Hogwarts until something from the dark side disrupts them...
1. Home and Away

Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter characters or ideas but I do own Bethany, Ruby, Patrick, Arnold, and all of the characters you know that are not in the books.  
  
The Dark Shadow  
  
Chapter 1: Home and Away  
  
The bright violet rays of the sun were shinning through the blinds as Bethany lazily awoke in the morning glow. Once she was fully awake, she sat up in her bed and looked slowly around the pale blue room she was in. She saw her friend Ruby still sleeping in her double sized bed. Bethany had talked her parents into taking a last-weeks-of-summer vacation in France and they had unwillingly left her at her friend Ruby Chittock's house for the last 2 weeks of summer vacation. Bethany and her friend Ruby had a secret. They went to a school. But not just any school. It was a special school, called Hogwarts. It was for witches and wizards. They were both witches. Everyone in the school was learning magic and they couldn't tell any muggles, or 'non-magic folk' about it or the secret would spread like wildfire.  
  
Just then her thoughts were interrupted when her little brother Caleb and Ruby's little brother Ben tiptoed into the room.  
  
"Oh no!" Caleb whispered to Bethany. "We wanted to wake you!"  
  
Bethany laughed because her brother always was playing pranks on people and telling jokes, but she loved him very much.  
  
"I'm sure you did." She said quietly giving him a skeptical look and then smirking.  
  
"Can we wake Ruby?!?" Caleb and Ben asked quickly.  
  
Bethany thought about this. She knew that Ruby wouldn't be very happy with two little boys waking her, but she decided to let them anyways because it would soon be their first day of Hogwarts and she knew they were horribly nervous and she wanted to get their mind off it and let them have as much fun as the could before they were reminded of school again.  
  
"I suppose so," she said slowly, "just as long as you don't tell her I let you." She added quickly.  
  
They boys snuck over to Ruby's bedside and counted to three. Then they jumped into the air and onto Ruby's bed. They kept jumping up and down on the bed until Ruby was sitting strait up and yelling, "You little monsters! Get off! You ugly little gits! Why'd you go and wake me up like that!"  
  
The boys were thoroughly ecstatic on the joke they had played on Ruby and they ran out of the room, not bothering to stifle their laughter.  
  
Ruby gave Bethany an annoyed look and then got out of bed. She walked over to the door and shut up. It closed with a slam that Bethany knew Ruby had done on purpose. She began to get dressed and Bethany did the same. Today they were all going to Diagon Alley to buy their school supplies. The day after, was the first day of the new school year. This was Bethany, Ruby and most of her other friends 3rd years.  
  
They went out of Ruby's room and jumped down the steps, 2 at a time.  
  
"Morning, girls." Mr. Chattock, Ruby's father, said to them.  
  
"Morning." The girls said together.  
  
An owl flew in their window, and Bethany didn't seem to recognize it. She looked at Ruby and she seemed confused too. Then they realized, "Hogwarts." said Ruby and Bethany at the same time.  
  
Caleb and Ben stormed down the stairs shouting and laughing.  
  
"Now, now, boys. Settle down." Mr. Chattock said and smiled at them.  
  
The owl dropped a letter on each of their plates and they all ripped them open gleefully.  
  
"Mail!" shouted Caleb.  
  
"Hogwarts letters." Bethany corrected him. Caleb's face turned a pale cream color, from the rosy pink it usually was. So did Ben's.  
  
Mrs. Chattock came down the stairs smoothing out her dress and smiling. She winked at Bethany and smiled at the rest. Mrs. Chattock liked Bethany most above all the other of Ruby's friends. She seemed to want to be a second mother to her and was always treating her like one of her own children. Bethany didn't mind it because she always got extra sweet and gifts around Christmas and Easter which was more than Ruby's other friends got from her.  
  
Caleb and Ben had started a food fight with their porridge and Bethany was just narrowly missed by a flying spoonful so Ruby said "Come on Bethany, lets go eat outside in the garden."  
  
She picked up her plate and ruffled her brother's hair, again being narrowly missed by a flying spoonful of porridge and walked out the door after Ruby.  
  
They went out and sat on Ruby's porch in the garden and watched as the little gnomes prowled the grounds and they laughed as the tripped over each other.  
  
After they ate, they walked back inside the house and got everything ready to go to Diagon Alley. Once they were ready, they stood by the chimney, with floo powder in hand. Bethany had used this once before, last year when she went to Diagon Alley with the Chattock's.  
  
She walked into the floo with her brother and they yelled "Diagon Alley." loudly. A rush of green smoke went up around them and they sat coughing and sprawled out on the ground outside of Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions.  
  
Two minutes later, all the rest of the Chattock's had joined them outside the shop. They split up and agreed to meet back in 3 hours.  
  
Ruby and Bethany first went to Quality Quidditch Supplies. Upon their arrival, they found Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas gawking at a brand new type of broom.  
  
"Look at it! It's amazing! 'ow do they do it!" said Seamus Finnigan staring at the broom.  
  
And they Bethany saw him. It was Harry Potter, who was also looking at the brooms. She ran over him and almost tripped over Dean on her way. Harry caught her and she brushed the hair out of her eyes. They both paused, and then started laughing. Ruby rolled her eyes and thought to herself, "God, here we go again!" She, and almost everyone knew, that Bethany and Harry fancied each other, yet neither of them ever asked the other out, or told them how they felt.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry about that." Bethany said to Harry laughing. "There must have been a snag in the rug or something." Dean gave her a nasty look and rubbed his leg where she had accidentally kicked him in the shin.  
  
"Oh, no, don't worry about it. It's fine." He said and she realized he was still holding her up. She got up very quickly and was very embarrassed.  
  
"Well, I have to, you know, go because I still have to get those books for school." She said and she waved goodbye while walking backwards. Dean had to move his foot again so that she didn't trip over it again on the way out.  
  
"You and that Potter boy. I don't know what is wrong with the two of you." said Ruby once they had gotten out of the door. "Why don't you just ask him out or something and get it over with?" she asked exuberantly.  
  
"Oh, no! I could never do that! I'd just feel awkward and I'd goof it all up!" she said blushing.  
  
Ruby shook her head and they kept walking. Ruby decided to change the subject. She looked at her watch and said, "Hey, what do you say to some lunch?" It sounded good to both of the girls, so they went to the Leaky Caldron and bought lunch. Two of their other friends walked in right in the middle of their meal.  
  
"Kiara! Patrick!" the girls shouted and their friends stopped talking and waved at them. Their friends Kiara Dearborn, a 3rd year in Ravenclaw, and Patrick Crane, another 3rd year in Hufflepuff, were good friends with you've Bethany and Ruby. They pulled two tables together so that they could all sit together.  
  
"What do you think? Our 3rd year at Hogwarts!" shouted Patrick.  
  
"I think that getting this far is exceptionally great!" said Kiara.  
  
"I can't wait to play quidditch again!" said Bethany.  
  
"Me neither!" said Patrick.  
  
"And I can't wait to beat your team!" said Bethany and she laughed. Patrick looked smug.  
  
They finished eating and went to buy their books. They got to the store and were getting their books when a familiar voice echoed in their ears.  
  
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Sipple, Crane, Chattock, and Dearborn." They all spun around to see their worst enemy and fellow 3rd year, Arnold Donovan. All of them stood a minute glaring at each other until Patrick said, "What do you want?"  
  
"Me," he said, "nothing, but you, you probably want to get some decent robes this year." He said with a smirk.  
  
Patrick stepped forward but Bethany and Ruby held him back. Donovan walked out of the store laughing.  
  
"Why didn't you let me at him? I could have gotten him." said Patrick grimly.  
  
They got their books and split up and each went back to meet their parents.  
  
"See you all on the train tomorrow!" Bethany shouted to everyone.  
  
Bethany and Ruth went back to the Chattock house, and they stayed up a long time talking about the summer, and their school before they finally went to bed.  
  
Bethany closed her eyes and imagined seeing Harry again. They were riding their brooms in a quidditch game and Bethany was scoring lots of point for her team. Harry had spotted the snitch and was off! He chased after it and Malfoy who was the slytherin seeker, chased after it also. Harry butted Malfoy out of the way, and caught the snitch. Her team had won the quidditch cup. Bethany smiled at this happy thought, and with that, she drifted off into a pieceful sleep. 


	2. The Train

Ch. 2 The Train  
  
Bethany awoke the next morning with a feeling that someone was watching her. She opened her eyes and there were two pink blurbs looking down on her. She blinked and her eyes focused and realized it was her brother and Ben. She screamed and then realized again that it was her brother and then she calmed down.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked in a sharp tone.  
  
"School today!" they yelled and ran out of the room.  
  
Ruth had woken up when Bethany screamed and she said, "Just think, we're going to be stuck with them for the next 4 years. Every single day."  
  
They sighed and got ready for their train ride to school. They grabbed their bags which they had packed the night before, and hauled them down the stairs. They got into the Chattock family's car and drove to King's Cross Station.  
  
When they got there Mrs. Chattock kissed them all goodbye, and the clambered onto the train. Caleb and Ben went into one cabin with their things and Bethany and Ruby went into another cabin and met their friends again.  
  
"Hey Patrick! Hey Kiara!" said Bethany happily as she put her owl Fivel onto a shelf above their heads and her bags underneath the seats.  
  
"Hello!" they said back to her. She and Ruby sat down and a few seconds later, the train began to move. They looked out the window and saw Mrs. and Mr. Chattock waving back at them. They smiled and sat back down in their seats.  
  
"First years for my brother and Caleb." said Ruby solemnly.  
  
"It can't be that bad." said Patrick sympathetically. "My brother wasn't that upset when it was my turn to come to Hogwarts and he was there."  
  
"I actually can't wait to see what houses they are in!" said Bethany.  
  
Just then, the cabin door opened and there stood Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Bethany's eyes opened wide and everyone in the cabin looked at her.  
  
"Can we sit here? All the other cabi---" Harry said, but he was cut off by Bethany.  
  
"YES!" she said, then she continued, "I- - - I mean you can sit here if you want. We can make room." and she blushed.  
  
"They all squished into the compartment and Bethany pushed Kiara away so that Harry could sit next to her. Kiara gave her a nasty look but Patrick nudged her with his elbow and he gave her a nasty look.  
  
They talked about the sorting ceremony and the start of classes that would soon come. They talked so long, the time flew by and before they knew it, the train slammed to a stop and they got up. Bethany grabbed Fivel's cage, Kiara and Ruby scooped up their cats Panda and Punthali.  
  
When they got off the train, they got right back onto the carriages that took them to the boats, which took them to the castle. Once they had finally got to the castle, they went into the great hall and sat down at the dinner tables.  
  
Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were already sitting at the end of the table, noticed they had walked in and they jumped up immediately, their eyes sparkling.  
"Bethany, Kiara, Ruby!" they shouted and ran over to them. "Hullo!" They grabbed them in humongous hugs that knocked the wind out of them.  
  
"Hullo, George." said Bethany as she pried his arms off of her. They all started laughing.  
  
"Students, students! I would like everyone's attention please." Professor McGonnagle. "We are about to start the sorting ceremony. Please, everyone sit down." All the students sat down in unison.  
  
The first years came storming into the great hall and a hush fell over the hall as they walked up to the steps where the sorting hat was layed.  
  
"It's a simple process really," Mcgonnagle told the new students, "you sit on this stool and put the sorting hat on your head and wait to hear what it says."  
  
She started to call out the names of the students. "Ben Chattock." Bethany heard a squeal of excitement from Ruby and Ben walked up to the stool and sat down. The sorting hat began to speak.  
  
"Hmmm. you've got enough brains to be in Ravenclaw, but I think you're more of a. Gryffindor!" The Gryffindor table cheered as Ben ran down the steps, tripped, blushed, and sat down.  
  
"Caleb Sipple." Bethany smiled as her brother walked past her table. She gave him a thumbs up sign and he gave her a weak smile and he stepped up to the stool and sat down. The sorting hat began to talk again.  
  
"Hmmm. you're much like your sister in many ways." Everyone at the table looked at Bethany, "therefore, you are a Gryffindor!" Once again, the Gryffindor table erupted in cheers and clapping as Caleb ran down to them beaming and sat down next to his sister.  
  
"Molly Donovan." said Mcgonnagle. Just then, a pudgy little girl pushed her way through the crowd and strutted up to the stool and sat down.  
  
"No need to think about this one." Said the sorting hat. "Slytherin!" it shouted and the Slytherin table began to cheer and clap while the Gryffindor table and some people at the other tables gave nasty looks towards the Slytherins.  
  
"Ew, that's Donovan's sister." said Bethany. "Now there's another one of them here."  
  
Patrick turned around from the Hufflepuff table to talk to them. "I'm sure he's saying the same thing about you and your brother." Patrick pointed out and everyone around him gave him a horrible look that told him he shouldn't have said that.  
  
They finished the rest of the sorting and Professor Dumbledore said some wanted to say somethings.  
  
"I will expect this year will be full of fun and learning. I would like you all to know that we will be having a back-to-school ball on the first of October. I should hope to see you all there."  
  
He smiled and then clapped his hands. Tray after tray the table filled with magnificent food of all kinds. The kids ate greedily and talked and laughed with their mouths full and stuff their mouths with anything that was there until they could eat no more. When they were all finished, the trays disappeared and the prefects took the first years up to the common rooms. Caleb made sure to stay near Ben and Bethany until they got to the common rooms.  
  
When they got there, all the first years gawked at the great furniture and the beauty of the room.  
  
They stayed up talking until 2 in the morning when Professor Mcgonnagle came in and scolded them for being up so late. They all went to bed and Bethany fell asleep thinking about the ball that was going to be held in exactly a month from that night. 


	3. Potions Class

Ch.3. Potions Class  
  
In the morning Bethany was awoken by a pillow that was thrown into her face.  
"Bethanyyyy!" said Ruby. "Get up! It's our first day!" she finished and ran off.  
  
Bethany reluctantly got up and changed into her robes. She went down the common room and her brother, Harry, and some other people were waiting for her. She blushed when she saw Harry, but no one seemed to notice and the lot of them walked down to the great hall for breakfast.  
  
In the great hall, they got their schedule's for the classes they would have that semester.  
  
"Oh no," stated Ruby, "we all have potions class first period."  
  
Ruby, Bethany, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Patrick, Kiara and the rest of the students that were in their class, groaned.  
  
They ate as slowly as they could hoping to have an excuse to be late to potions, but when they had finished their third helpings, they still had 20 minutes left. They decided to get to class early and get ready so that Snape wouldn't have any reason to give them an unruly detention.  
  
19 minutes and 59 seconds to the exact mille-second, Professor Snape barged through the door ranting on something about dragons to someone who still stood out in the corner.  
  
A hush fell over the classroom except for a few Slytherins still chattering in a corner.  
  
The class started and they were to concoct a laughing potion by the end of the class. Snape sat menacingly at his desk staring down any student that dared to look at him for more than a second.  
  
At the end of class he made them all test their potions at the end of class, in front of everyone. Neville Longbottom had messed up his potion so badly, he had to be escorted to Madame Pomfrey's office in hysterical fits of laughter and bubbles kept coming out of his mouth whenever he opened it and he didn't come back until everyone was just leaving. He didn't mind seeing as he was terribly afraid of Snape.  
  
"Why does Snape try to kill us like that?" asked Ron. "I mean, he knows we're not that great at potions, and if we had messed up our potion bad enough, we could kill ourselves. Personally, I don't think he would care at all!"  
  
The rest agreed and just as they were about to leave the dungeons, they heard a horrifying scream come from back downstairs. They all looked at each other and went running back down the steps.  
  
There in the middle of the hall was Neville kneeling down holding his head in his hands and screaming.  
  
"Neville! Neville! What's wrong!" shouted Hermione.  
  
He couldn't answer her. He was still screaming, but then suddenly he stopped and he keeled over and curled up and panting on the ground.  
  
"Someone go get Professor McGonaggle!" shouted Bethany noticing that a large group of students had gathered around them and Neville.  
  
About 3 minutes later Professor McGonaggle came sprinting down the stairs and the bodies parted like the waters of the red sea as she made her way through them to Neville.  
  
Just then, Madame Pomfrey trotted down the stairs and she inspected Neville. Then her face turned white.  
  
"The cruciartus curse..." she whispered and her voice trailed off.  
  
Some of the students were confused and didn't know what she was talking about, but others gasped and one girl actually fainted.  
  
Professor McGonaggle went white. Madame Pomfrey carried the shivering Neville up to her office on a floating stretcher.  
  
"I hope he's alright." said Kiara hopefully.  
  
"What's the cruciartus curse?" asked Patrick.  
  
Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. "It's one of the unforgivable curses and you can go to Azkaban for performing it on anyone. It inflicts terrible pain on anyone who comes in contact with it." she said matter-of-factly like it was something everyone should have learned when they were very little.  
  
"But who could perform the cruciartus curse in Hogwarts! There are too many people watching!" said Ruby.  
  
"What if they were wearing and invisibility cloak?" Bethany pointed out.  
  
"Right. They could have been hiding." said Harry.  
  
"Well we all know how Neville is. He could have done it himself on accident!" said Ron.  
  
"Yeah, that's probably what happened. Neville's just uncoordinated. That's all." said Hermione and they kept on walking and tried to forget about it. But it was hard for them to try and get the scene they saw out of their mind. 


	4. The Back to School Ball

Ch. 4 The Back to School Ball  
  
As the Back to School Ball was coming closer, the students started talking about it more and more and everyone was asking people they fancied to go with them.  
  
Ron had been following Kiara for a week, but never got the courage to ask her to the ball. She finally got so fed up with it, she said "Are you going to ask me to the ball or not!" Ron was so taken aback, that he tripped down the stairs and had to be taken to the hospital wing with a bloody nose.  
  
Patrick had asked Ron to ask Harry to ask Ruby to ask Bethany to ask Hermione to go to the ball with him. Hermione told Bethany to tell Ruby to tell Harry to tell Ron to tell Patrick that Hermione said "yes." They all seemed to think it would have been a lot easier just for Patrick to come and ask her himself.  
  
Even Arnold had a date to the ball! He was going with Millicent Bulstrode, though she was almost 2 feet taller than him. They were an awkward couple but they seemed to enjoy each other's company very much. Bethany was beginning to worry that she wouldn't have a date to the ball.  
  
Bethany and Ruby were sitting up in their dorms faking their way through their divination homework when an owl started pecking gently on the window by Bethany's bed.  
  
She went over to it and recognized it to be Hedwig, Harry's owl. Tied to its leg was a note on a small piece of parchment. Bethany untied it as Ruby watched and Hedwig gave her an affectionate nip on the hand.  
  
She unrolled the parchment and read the scrawled writing. It said "Bethany, would you come to the ball with me? – Harry." Bethany was so happy she almost started crying. She dipped her quill in her ink bottle and wrote, "Yes, I'd love to. – Bethany." and she tied this to Hedwig's leg and the bird flew back out the window.  
  
About 4 minutes later, Bethany and Ruby heard a shriek of "YES!" from the boys dormitory and they burst out laughing.  
  
"Ruby, who are you going to the ball with?" Bethany asked her.  
  
"I don't have anyone yet. I'm still looking." She said with a slight frown.  
  
"Can I set you up then?" asked Bethany.  
  
"Um... I guess so..." she said "just as long as it's not Neville." She added quickly.  
  
"Alright. I promise I won't ask Neville for you."  
  
Bethany started asking all of the Gryffindor 3rd years if they would go to the ball with Ruby but all of them had dates already.  
  
One night in the Gryffindor common room, Bethany was playing a game of exploding snap with Ron when she heard Seamus saying "I really need a date for the ball!" to Dean Thomas.  
  
Bethany's eyes opened wide and she ran over to him, nearly knocking their table over and telling him that Ruby needed a date. He agreed and she ran up to the dorm to tell Ruby. Ruby wasn't nearly as pleased as Seamus, but she agreed reluctantly after some convincing by Bethany.  
  
They all had dates. There was nothing to worry about. Bethany couldn't finish any more of her homework. She couldn't concentrate. She went out of the portrait of the fat lady and walked down the hall, not knowing where she was going.  
  
Suddenly, she screamed and was pulled into an empty classroom.  
  
"Psstt! It's us!" someone that Bethany couldn't see said. 


	5. Information Concealed

Ch. 5 Information Concealed  
  
She watched as Fred and George pulled off an invisibility cloak.  
  
"Why do you always have to drag me into some room whenever you want to talk to me? Couldn't you have just as easily said 'Bethany, it's Fred and George. Come in here.'" But Fred and George either were ignoring her or pretended not to hear what she said. Fred pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to George.  
  
"Potion," George started in some kind of a salesman voice, "is absolutely never used before, besides being tested by us. Anyways, it can be yours for nothing at all!" Bethany gave them a skeptical look. "What is it?" she asked. "I'm not taking anything that I don't know what it is."  
  
"It's a ghost potion." started Fred. "You some of it and say 'phantomahraya'. But you have to roll they 'r' or it won't work and you will get ill."  
  
"What curse did you put on it? I know the second I touch that thing, my skin will turn green or something, or it won't work and I'll get ill anyways."  
  
Fred rolled his eyes. "Bethanyyyy, we're not always playing tricks!" and Bethany tried to hold back a laughing snort. She knew Fred and George had been working on things for their future joke shop since they were younger than her.  
  
"We promise. We'll even try it first if you like." said George.  
  
"Fine," said Bethany and she crossed her arms and shifted her weight to her other leg. "Show me." Fred grabbed the flask, raised it to his lips, took a sip, and said "phantomahraya!"  
  
Suddenly, his rolled back and his skin from head to toe turned a translucent light blue. His face became scarred and his robes turned to rags. He looked so frightening, Bethany was sure that any unsuspecting student would faint with fright.  
  
"You look as scary as the Bloody Baron!" she said smiling.  
  
"And we'll even throw in the counter potion for free." said George and he handed the floating Fred another flask.  
  
Fred drank some of this one too and then he fell to the ground and stood up.  
  
"How about it?" asked Fred beaming.  
  
"Um... I'll take it." she said and George handed her the flasks.  
  
"But how did u get them?" asked Bethany.  
  
"Well," started Fred with a smug look. "during potions class, we had a little 'accident' when George 'accidentally' knocked over his cauldron of scalding hot squid draught on Professor Snape's feet." Fred laughed uncontrollably and George had to finish the rest.  
  
"So after I had my little 'accident' all over the Professor's feet, he proceeded to yell the living daylights out of me because he couldn't move." Bethany gave him a confused look. "Well his feet were tentacles! You wouldn't be able to move either if you were a half of a squid!" and they laughed. "Well anyways, Fred snuck over to his collection of books and he 'borrowed' a book on complicated potions. We were going to try to poison the great prat, but we found the ghost potion, and we decided to make that instead. It took us a great deal of time."  
  
"It's only the first month of school!" said Bethany.  
  
"But we did this last year. We've been working all summer on it." answered Fred, finally being able to contain himself.  
  
"You'll know when to use it." said George.  
  
"And if you're not sure, just think of us and then you'll know whether or not to use it." added Fred and he burst into more hysterical fits of laughter again.  
  
"Alright." said Bethany and she slipped the flasks into her robes. Her pocket bulged.  
  
Fred and George said their goodbyes and they slipped the cloak back on themselves and left.  
  
Bethany left too. She turned the corner and ran right into Professor Snape.  
  
"You!" he said menacingly with a slight grin on his face that Bethany didn't want to look at.  
  
"What are you doing?" he asked sharply.  
  
"Walking." she said.  
  
"Why aren't you in your common room like you should be?"  
"Because I wanted to take a walk. Is that so bad? I can walk if I want to." she said and she side stepped him.  
  
Professor Snape hated Gryffindors. Especially ones with attitude and ones that were friends with Harry Potter. Bethany had both of those traits.  
  
"Young lady," he said so loudly that one of the portraits on the wall covered her ears. "you are coming with me to my office."  
  
He grabbed her wrist and yanked her towards his office. 


	6. Trouble

Ch. 6 Trouble  
  
When they got to his office, he slammed the door.  
  
"I don't know who you think you are talking to a teacher like you did downstairs." he said stiffly.  
  
He noticed that her pocket was bulging.  
  
"What's in your pocket? Stolen goods no doubt." he stated. "Show them to me."  
  
She didn't move.  
  
"SHOW THEM TO ME!" he yelled and spit flew all over Bethany. She wiped her face vigorously and reluctantly pulled out the two flasks.  
  
Professor Snape grabbed them from her hands and inspected them.  
  
"I want you to drink these." he said menacingly.  
  
"What?" said Bethany trying to look innocent. Maybe if she pretended not to know anything then she could leave without having to show Professor Snape what happened if you drank the potions. If she had to drink it, he would know that someone had stolen his book because no student could know how to mix this kind of potion without that book. He would suspect her.  
  
"Drink it." he said sharply again.  
  
"How come?" she said stalling for time, hoping that someone would call him away from his room.  
  
"If you were trying to poison a Slytherin which I am betting that this is for, you will get sick or die and their life will be saved. It will be your fault if you do get ill." he explained sneering. "I will at least find out what the potion does. And it must be something dangerous Ms. Sipple because you wouldn't have a problem with it if it was something normal."  
  
She slowly opened the first flask and put it up to her mouth.  
  
"Wait," she thought, "if I don't say 'phantomahraya' then I won't get caught!"  
  
She drank some of the potion and put the top of the flask back on.  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
"Now the other one." he said.  
  
She did the same again, and still nothing happened.  
  
Snape's face turned into a nasty frown.  
  
Just then, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Kiara, Ruby, Patrick, Fred and George. Burst into the room, falling and tripping all over each other. They all tried to give different explanations of why Bethany had the potions but Snape couldn't understand any of them because they were all talking at the same time. He gave them a look of disgust.  
  
"Detention for all of you." he bellowed.  
  
"WHAT!" they all yelled.  
  
"Ms. Sipple for having an attitude, and the rest of you for trying to bail her out and barging into my office without knocking." he said.  
  
They sighed, knowing that they couldn't do anything about it and they left the room. But Fred and George didn't leave until they had 'borrowed' yet another thing of Professor Snape's. This time, it was a jellied newt in a bottle.  
  
"I can't believe Professor Snape gave us detention for trying to help you!" said Patrick as they walked back to the Gryffindor common room.  
  
"We all know he hates us." said Harry.  
  
"Floating billywig." Bethany said to the fat lady and they entered the common room.  
  
They talked about how evil Professor Snape was until Kiara and Patrick had to go back to the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff common rooms and then they went to bed.  
  
Bethany was angry at Professor Snape for being such an ugly git and she wondered what else he had against her. She hoped their detention wouldn't be anything too bad but she couldn't think of anything Professor Snape would give them. It could be anything. She forgot about that and remembered that quidditch season was starting next week. She imagined herself flying for the millionth time in another one of her quidditch games until she slowly fell asleep. 


	7. Detention

Ch. 7 Detention  
  
There detention wasn't as bad as some of them thought, but it was a rather odd one.  
  
"That's it?" asked Ron. "We just stay there in the Forbidden Forest? All night? And do nothing? That's the easiest detention I've ever had!" and launched himself into an arm chair in the common room.  
  
"Ron, it's not that simple." said Hermione. "We have to stay in the middle of the forest and who knows what's in there. And no Ron, were not just going to stay there. Professor Snape gave us a list of things for his potions we need to find. And we have to stay there every night until we do."  
  
"So we should split up into groups of 5 and each look for 5 ingredients." said Bethany. "Me, Harry, Kiara, George and Patrick will go in one group and Fred, Hermione, Ron, Neville, and Ruby can go in the other group."  
  
"Well you're quite the little leader aren't you." said Fred and Hermione gave him a nasty look.  
  
That night, the all trouped down to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, wands in their pockets and ready to use them if needed.  
  
Snape produced 10 sacks for the ingredients and to not touch anything except what they were looking for.  
  
"What does he expect us to do?" asked Patrick. "Try to stick a centaur in our pockets?"  
  
They laughed and split up into their groups. Bethany's group going to the right, and Fred's group going to the left.  
  
"Remember, send red sparks into the air if you see anything dangerous and send gold into the air if you find everything you're looking for."  
  
"B-B-But I forgot my wand!" said Neville.  
  
"Don't worry. We all have ours." said Hermione.  
  
Bethany and her group were looking around and talking about what kinds of things they could do to get revenge on Slytherin when Patrick tripped over a lumpy rock that was lying in the dirt.  
  
"Are you alright old chap?" George asked laughing as he helped him up and Patrick brushed himself off.  
  
"Yeah, except my leg is bleeding a bit. But it's alright, really." Patrick's jeans were torn just under his knee and they could all see blood seeping through them.  
  
Bethany noticed something dark on the rock. She bent down to see what it was and noticed it was writing. It had been engraved into the rock very hastily and it said "RIP S.S. 1991."  
  
"Hey guys, take a look at this." Bethany showed them the writing on the rock.  
  
"That was 12 years ago." said Kiara  
  
"That's not a rock..." said Harry slowly. "It's a grave." Kiara gave a little shriek and then all got up and walked away quickly.  
  
"I wonder who 'S.S' was." said Patrick.  
  
"Probably some old bogey who lived here." said George but Bethany noticed he didn't look like he believed what he said.  
  
"Look!" said Kiara. "It's dittany." She bent down and picked up the ingredient.  
  
They kept on walking until they found wolves bane, moley, flobber worm mucus and silfax.  
  
Bethany shot gold sparks into the air and they sat and waited for the others to shoot up their sparks.  
  
What felt like hours later, the other group shot up their gold sparks and they met each other where they had started in the middle of the forest.  
  
They pulled blankets out of the bag that Fred had brought and they lay down on the forest floor.  
  
One of us will stay up for an hour, then we will trade on and off.  
  
They agreed and Neville took the first watch, even though Ron protested this horribly.  
  
They all went to sleep trying not to worry about what creatures that could happen to surround them in the forest.  
  
In the middle of the night, Bethany was shaken awake by Harry, Hermione and Ron.  
  
"Is it morning already? Why is everyone else asleep?" they shushed her. She looked around where she was and realized that it wasn't the same place she had spent the night before. "Where are we!" she asked.  
  
"Well..." said Hermione wringing her hands, "we're not sure."  
  
Bethany's stomach dropped. 


	8. The Palace and the Ball

Ch. 8 The Palace and the Ball  
  
Bethany looked around the room again. It was bright and light colored. The ground was made of shiny white stones and they glittered under the bright lights that shone.  
  
Just then a bright silver unicorn came out of a doorway and it spoke to them.  
  
"Welcome children to the palace of the unicorns. I am Queen Hetshiba."  
  
"Harry, the unicorn is talking to us. Unicorns don't talk, do they?" he asked them.  
  
They all shrugged.  
  
"I guess they do." said Hermione.  
  
"We have brought you here from the danger of the forest."  
  
"Er, sorry, but we were supposed to stay there or else we would get in trouble..." said Kiara slowly because she wasn't sure how a talking unicorn would take this.  
  
The unicorn laughed, which surprised them all and she said.  
  
"Well then we shall take you back to the edge of the forest. But first, would you like a meal?" she asked them.  
  
They were all very hungry and they agreed quickly.  
  
The unicorn brought them to a large table in another room and there was loads of glorious food on it. They sat down and ate their fill, all except Neville who refused to eat anything because he thought it was poisoned.  
  
After they ate, the children, still dazed and confused, were taken back to the edge of the forest.  
  
They ran back up the hill and into the school. They decided not to mention this to anyone because they would be taken away to an insane asylum for attempting to tell people that unicorns had talked to them.  
  
They went up to Snape's office and handed him the bags.  
  
"I see you're all still alive and well." He said with a frown.  
  
They all gave him a look of sheer hatred and walked out of the office.  
  
It was nearly time for the Back to School Ball, or how it was more widely known, as the BTSB.  
  
That weekend the students were allowed to go to Hogsmeade and Harry, Ron, Bethany, Patrick, and Ruby all decided to go. Kiara and Hermione decided they had been there enough and they decided to stay back and study.  
  
They went to Honeydukes and bought loads of candy, they went to the joke shop and they laughed and tried out all of the jokes and pranks the shop had, but Bethany's favorite, was the quidditch supplies store. She went there so often, even the customers knew her name. They all said hello to her as she walked into the store and she answered back. This time she only stayed a little while because she saw Harry walking down the street and wanted to go meet up with him.  
  
"Hello Harry!" she said as she ran up to him.  
  
"Hi Bethany!" he answered back, smiling.  
  
"Can't wait for the BTSB. It's only two days away!" she said blushing.  
  
"Me neither. It's going to be great. Lots of dancing and food and I heard that the weird sisters are going to be there!" he told her excitedly.  
  
They went and ate at a small café and they talked for a long time.  
  
It was getting dark when they realized that they had to get back to the bus they had come on.  
  
They paid the waiter and ran to the bus. It was just about to leave but they yelled for it to stop and the doors opened and let them in.  
  
Two days later, Bethany and Ruby complained to Professor Flitwick they weren't feeling well and he excused them out of class.  
  
Instead of going to the hospital wing, they went up to the Gryffindor common room to get ready for the ball. Even though it was three hours away, they wanted to have tons of time to get ready.  
  
Ruby's dress robes were dark blue and Bethany's were lavender. They got ready for the ball. They did their hair and their make up and put their robes on.  
  
Ruby tried to straiten Bethany's hair with a straitening charm but Bethany's hair was already so strait, that the charm wouldn't work at all.  
  
At 6 o-clock sharp, music began to play down in the great hall.  
  
Bethany and Ruby walked down together and saw that the tables had been propped up against the wall so that the students would be able to dance. The Weird Sisters, a popular wizard band was playing their music loudly on a stage that Dumbledore must have set up.  
  
Bethany saw Harry looking around for her in the crowd. She ran over to him and they sat down at a table that wasn't against the wall.  
  
The talked for about an hour and they saw Kiara trying to dance with Ron. She was screaming at him and it looked as if she was on the verge of tears.  
  
"You stupid prat!" she yelled at him. "You have two left feet and you're scaring me!" she broke down into tears and ran away from him.  
  
Ron, Bethany could tell was very embarrassed and very confused. He went over and sat down to Bethany and Harry.  
  
"I don't get it!" he started. "I didn't do anything wrong and she has to go and be a git like that!"  
  
They sat in silence until Ron got up and the band started to play a slow song.  
  
"Would you like to dance?" Harry asked hopefully.  
  
"Yes!" shouted Bethany gleefully and they walked over close to the stage and danced for the rest of the ball. Bethany didn't see Kiara for the rest of the night and she suspected she either was in the bathroom crying or was in her common room crying.  
  
Bethany wanted to make sure she was alright, but she couldn't leave the happiness she was having at the ball.  
  
When it was over Bethany said good night to Harry and he told her that he had had the best time of his life with her there. He kissed her on the cheek and ran off with Ron up into the boys dormitory.  
  
Bethany went grinning happily up to her dorm and she started cheering the minute she got there.  
  
Never in her life had she had as good a time as the ball. She was glad Professor Dumbledore had gotten the idea.  
  
Then she remembered Kiara. She wrote a quick note to her, tied it to her owl's leg, and went to bed. 


	9. Quidditch

Ch. 9 Quidditch  
  
In the morning she was woken up by her owl nipping her arm. She untied the note that was on its leg. It was from Kiara. It said, "I hate boys. Mostly, I hate Ron. – Kiara."  
  
Bethany laughed, fed her owl, got dressed, and went down to breakfast.  
  
On the way there she caught up with some of the girls on her quidditch team. Their names were Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson. They were carrying their brooms with them and they had their quidditch gear on. They, like Bethany, were chasers on the team.  
  
"Ready for the first quidditch match of the season?" Angelina asked her.  
  
"What?" said Bethany.  
  
"The first match! It's today! Right after breakfast!" said Alicia.  
  
Bethany had forgotten. Oliver Wood had told them over breakfast a week ago that they were going to have the first match today.  
  
"Uh, I'll be right back. said Bethany and she ran back up to the Gryffindor common room and up to her dorm and she changed into her quidditch gear and grabbed her Firebolt. The only other person on the team with a Firebolt was Harry.  
  
When she finally got down to breakfast, everyone was finished. Her brother and her friends wished her good luck in the match and she managed to grab a piece of bacon before being dragged away by Oliver Wood to the locker rooms.  
  
"We need to win this match. Good luck." was the only thing he said to him.  
  
"Well that wasn't a very good prep speech!" said George to them as they walked out onto the field.  
  
Bethany could feel the excitement in her stomach as Madame Hooch blew the whistle and she kicked off the ground.  
  
The match was against Slytherin. Bethany saw Harry looking for the snitch and she saw Malfoy looking at Harry.  
  
Angelina threw her the quaffle and she sped off towards the Slytherin goal post.  
  
Lee Jordan was commentating the match.  
  
"Johnson throws the quaffle to Sipple who throws it to Spinnet who throws it back to Sipple who SCORES! GO GRYFFINDOR!" Lee announced.  
  
Donovan, who was a beater on the Slytherin team, hit a bludger and it went speeding towards Harry's head.  
  
"HARRY! DUCK!" she yelled to him and Harry ducked just in time for the bludger only to skim the top of his hair.  
  
He smiled at her but Donovan gave her a nasty look that said she had foiled his plans to give Harry a concussion.  
  
The quidditch game went on and Bethany made 6 more goals.  
  
Finally, the score was tied 160 to 160. Whoever caught the snitch first would win the match.  
  
Bethany saw Harry scanning the ground. Bethany signaled Harry to do the Wronski Faint. That was when you pretend to see the snitch on the ground and you soar down and pull your broom up at the last minute. Your opponent is supposed to not pull up, and hit the ground.  
  
Harry did the Wronski Faint. Malfoy followed. Harry pulled up at the last minute and Malfoy hit the ground. A groan went through the Slytherin house but a cheer went up through Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff.  
  
Finally there was a glint of gold and Harry followed it. When he got close enough, he let go of his broom and stood up on it. He reached out, jumped off his broom, caught the snitch and landed back, sitting on his broom again.  
  
Another cheer and groan went through the houses. They had won the match. Bethany beamed. 


	10. Another Attack

Ch. 10 Another Attack  
  
The crowd had gone streaming onto the field and they had jumped on Bethany, Harry, Angelina, Alicia, Fred, George, and Oliver. Bethany was knocked to the ground by people hugging her and she could barely breath.  
  
Suddenly, they heard a scream coming from across the field and they saw Ruby's brother kneeling down and holding his head. Just like what Neville had looked like the month before.  
  
Ruby started crying and ran over to her brother.  
  
"Oh my god! What's wrong!" she shrieked.  
  
Her brother finally stopped screaming and some of the teachers pushed their way through the crowd of kids to get to him. Madame Pomfrey once again, carried another student up to the hospital wing with her.  
  
Professor Dumbledore told all of the students to go back to their common rooms and to not leave until the Head Boy and Girl told them it was safe.  
  
"What's happening to the school!" Ruby said teary-eyed.  
  
"I-I-I don't know. I really don't." said Bethany.  
  
"Well we're going to find out." said Harry and he ran up to his dorm to get his invisibility cloak.  
  
"Some of us will go under my invisibility cloak to the hospital wing and listen to what Dumbledore is saying." he stated.  
  
"We'll lend you our cloak too Harry." said Fred and George producing their cloak and Harry took it.  
  
"Alright," he said, "Me, Bethany, Patrick and Ruby will go under my cloak and Hermione, Ron, Kiara, Fred and George will go under that one because it's larger than mine."  
  
"I don't want to go in a cloak with HIM!" said Kiara nastily.  
  
"Neither do I!" shouted Ron. They were still mad about the ball.  
  
"Fine," sighed Harry. "Kiara can come with us and Ruby can go with you."  
  
They set off up to the hospital wing under the cloaks.  
  
When they got there, they could hear Dumbledore's booming voice.  
  
"I don't know what is going on here. Students are being attacked just like when we had that basilisk last year. We may have to think about closing the school again."  
  
"No!" said Hermione and they shushed her.  
  
"We're doing our best to keep order Professor." They heard Snape's raspy voice.  
  
"I'm sure you are, but I need you all to try harder or this school may come to a close." mused Dumbledore.  
  
"They can't close the school! They just can't!" yelled Kiara when they got back to the common room.  
  
"Shut up! Someone will hear you!" shouted Ron, even louder than Kiara had spoken.  
  
That got them into an argument which Fred and George had to break up.  
  
They sat there glaring at each other the rest of the time.  
  
"Well there isn't really anything we can do about it, is there." said Patrick.  
  
"There is, but we just have to wait till the right time." said Ruby.  
  
"And when would that be?" asked Harry.  
  
"Well I don't know. I was just saying." she answered back.  
  
"We'll solve this mystery somehow." added Bethany.  
  
They spent the rest of the night racking their brains waiting for them to get ideas on what to do about the situation, but no one came up with anything.  
  
In the morning, they were all asleep on the couches and armchairs when Professor McGonnagle came in and told them that they wouldn't be having any classes that day due to some accidents.  
  
"It must be really bad for us not to have classes!" said Hermione quietly.  
  
"What about quidditch, Professor?" asked Bethany.  
  
"No, I'm sorry. There will be no quidditch until further notice." she said grimly and walked out of the portrait.  
  
Harry and Bethany looked at each other. That was it. They had drawn the line. They had to play quidditch. They had to find what was causing these attacks. 


	11. The Letters

Ch. 11 The Letters  
  
That night, Bethany sat up until 2 in the morning trying to think of a plan that would help them be able to find out what was causing the attacks. Around 1 in the morning, a shiny silver owl flew in her window and perched itself on the end of Ruby's 4 poster bed. She recognized the owl, to be her mother's.  
  
Quietly, she got out of bed and tip toed to Ruby's bedside. She picked up the owl and brought it back to her bed. She untied the letter attached to its leg, and read it.  
  
Dear Bethany, How are you? Derik and I got a divorce. I know you liked him, but we just don't get along anymore. I have a new boyfriend now. His name is Sean. He is very nice and he was in Hufflepuff when he went to Hogwarts. I know it's a change seeing as how none of my last boyfriends went to Hogwarts since your father. We are moved to a different apartment in London, but it's not far from the old one. Mummy misses you. Hope you are having fun!  
  
Love,  
Your mother  
  
Bethany cringed and threw the letter on the floor. Her mother had had 5 boyfriends in the last 3 years. Mark, Jonathan, Derik, Harold, and, Anthony. She had married two of them. Jonathan and Derik. Derik was the latest. Bethany didn't know why her mother thought that she liked Derik. He was a death eater and Bethany despised him. It was he who had wanted to pull her out of Hogwarts the year before and send her to Durmstrang. Bethany had protested and her mother had actually agreed with her. Bethany also hated him because her father had been murdered when she was 10. By Lord Voldemort. Derik was in the inner circle of Voldemort's followers and she hated it more than anything in the world. She wondered if Sean was like what her mother told her he was.  
  
Just then she noticed that the owl was still there. She figured he was waiting for her to give him another letter in reply to her mother. So she pulled out a quill and an extra piece of parchment, and wrote a letter back.  
  
Dear Mum, I miss you too. I don't know why you think I liked Derik. I hated him. Caleb did too. Did you think it was an accident when he kicked him in the shin that time? There wasn't really a bee there you know. You think that getting a new boyfriend solves everything. Well it doesn't. It just makes it worse. I'm tired of having a dysfunctional family. I haven't liked almost any of you boyfriends in the past so this one shouldn't be any different should it. Can't you just pick one guy and stay with him. As long as he's nice, not a death eater, and he doesn't wear pink cloaks like Mark did, I wouldn't mind him.  
  
Love,  
Your daughter  
  
She didn't even bother re-reading the letter. She quickly tied it to the owl's leg, threw it out the window, and went back to bed.  
  
She lay there and kept trying to think of a plan. When she couldn't think of any, she decided to write to the boys, and Kiara and tell them they had to meet the next day to think of a plan and tell Ruby about it in the morning.  
  
She pulled out 4 more pieces of parchment and wrote:  
  
Guys, we need to meet about plan. Come to secret passage on 2nd floor. You know the one.  
  
Bethy  
  
She tied them all to Fivel's leg and he reluctantly flew out the window. She once again climbed back into bed and fell asleep. 


	12. The Plan

Ch. 12 The Plan  
  
The next day they all gathered in the secret passageway on the 2nd floor to think of a plan.  
  
"Come on guys! We really need to think of something!" Bethany shouted.  
  
"People are going to keep getting attacked and they will close the school!" said Harry.  
  
"Yeah, well I hope the next person that gets attacked is Kiara!" yelled Ron and Kiara stood up but Bethany pulled her back down and Harry held Ron back.  
  
Bethany stopped and let go of Kiara. She thought.  
  
"Oh my god." she said breathily. "I have a plan."  
  
Everyone stopped talking and looked at her, wide eyed.  
  
"Well," said Patrick, "tell us!"  
  
"Yeah, of course." she said. "We set, kind of, a booby trap. One of us will wait in a corridor alone until the attacker comes. But really, they aren't alone, cause we'll be hiding or something. Then we jump out at the last minute and catch the attacker!" she said and she beamed.  
  
They all just stared at her. After a minute, Ron said, "Bethany, that has got to be the stupidest idea you have ever had."  
  
Bethany's grin faded off of her face. Then Ron added, "Lets do it!" and she beamed again. They all burst into loud chatter again until Bethany waved her hands to silence them.  
  
"Quiet guys, someone will hear us. Anyways, now we just need a volunteer to be the person to wait in the corridor!" Bethany stated.  
  
Everyone fell silent and she looked at each one of them in turn.  
  
"Come on guys! It's not that bad. You just have to wait there. Nothing will happen. And we'll catch the attacker!" she said hopefully trying to attract volunteers.  
  
"If it's not that bad then why don't you do it!" said Ruby.  
  
Bethany's cheeks turned a rosy pink.  
  
"Well we have to have someone do it, or the plan won't work." said Bethany.  
  
Ron poked Kiara in the back with his wand and she stood up alarmed and angry.  
  
"Kiara! Thank you for voulenteering! All you have to do is wait in the corridor until the attacker comes and we'll catch him before he does anything." Bethany grinned at her.  
  
Kiara was appalled. She had not wanted to volunteer and she had not done it on purpose. She gave a nasty look at Ron, who smirked, but she did not say anything and she sat back down.  
  
They decided that that night, they would go down to the corridor where the first person was attacked and wait there.  
  
"But what happens if no one comes?" asked Ruby.  
  
"Well then we keep coming back until someone does." said Harry before Bethany could answer.  
  
"Yeah so meet us down in the dungeon tomarow night at midnight. The Gryffindors can wait in the common room until then. Then we'll just see you down there I guess." said Bethany.  
  
"Don't forget your wands!" said Harry as they all climbed out of the secret passage.  
  
They all went to bed feeling accomplished and they thought about how they would all be victorious in capturing the attacker and how they would all be in the Daily Prophet. 


	13. A Night in the Dark

Ch. 13 A Night In the Dark  
  
The next night, at exactly midnight, they all made their way down to the corridor in the dungeons to wait for the attacker. When the Gryffindors got there, there was no sign of Kiara or Patrick.  
  
When they had waited till 12:20, Bethany said, "They're not coming. There's going to be nobody but us." But just as she said that, they tip toed into the room.  
  
"Sorry we're late!" said Patrick. "Peeves was throwing dung bombs up outside the entrance hall."  
  
"Oh," said Harry, "Kiara, go stand in that corner over there. We're going to hide behind these statues. Don't worry we won't leave you."  
  
"How can you tell me not to worry! I'm going to be bait for an attacker!" she shouted but they shushed her and she went over and stood in the corner.  
  
Around 1:30, half of them were asleep when they heard a scream from the other side of the room. The ones that were asleep woke up immediately and the ones that were awake look out from behind the side of the statue.  
  
There was a dark hooded figure looming next to where Kiara was huddled in the corner. It pulled it's wand out and Bethany made to yell "NOOOO!" but Ruby covered her mouth and Harry pulled her back.  
  
"I never wanted anyone to get hurt! I just wanted to catch the attacker. But we can't do it while he has his wand out!" Bethany whispered to them.  
  
They looked back out at the figure and Kiara. The figure still had it's wand out, but instead of hurting Kiara, he whispered something and she flew into the air. The figure said something else and a hole in the wall appeared and the figure glided in, still holding Kiara up in the air with his wand and they disappeared into the hole.  
  
"Oh lord." said Bethany. "Er... I wasn't exactly expecting this guys." she said slowly.  
  
The hole was just starting to close up when she yelled, "We have to save her!" and she and the others sprinted right into the hole in the wall. 


	14. An Unfair Fight

Ch. 14 An Unfair Fight  
  
The hole in the wall was pitch black and they walked briskly down the hall they were in until there was a lighted door at the end of it.  
  
Bethany pulled it open slowly, to reveal a large, gray, stone room with lots of statues.  
  
The rest of them filed in and they looked around the place quietly trying not to make any noise.  
  
Then they saw Kiara sitting on a stool in the middle of another room on the other side of the one they had come in.  
  
When she saw them enter she mouthed the words "it's a trap!" but no sound came out and no one could understand what she was saying.  
  
Suddenly they heard horrible loud laughter coming from all over the room. Their wands instantly flew out of their hands and they were slammed hard against the wall and slid down to the floor.  
  
The figure apparated into the center of the room near Kiara with a loud crack.  
  
"Well well well." The figure said and they could tell it was a man's voice. "I have all of the little tragic heroes in my grasp. So sad to know that they are all going to pass away unexpectedly." he said menacingly.  
  
Bethany was filled with rage. That was what Kiara had been trying to tell them. She had been warning them that it was a trap. Bethany was finding it hard to think fast enough. The man was pulling his wand out again and he turned his back on her to face Kiara.  
  
"Which of your friends should I do away with first?" he asked her plainly. When Kiara didn't answer, he answered for himself. "Maybe, Chattock over there," he turned to face Ruby. "Or maybe Sipple." He faced her. She was glaring at him. He turned again. "Or maybe Mr. Crane." He stopped. "No, I don't think so. I think I'll take Potter first." He turned to Harry and raised his wand. Harry was so weak from the slam on the wall they he couldn't stand.  
  
"Avada Ke--- ooph!" the man started but he was cut off. Bethany was enraged. Never in her life had she been so angry. As weak as she was, she had lept over and jumped on top of the murderer who was about to kill Harry.  
  
She didn't have a wand so she couldn't hex him, so she began beating him with her fists until she saw red blood all over her hands. She didn't care. She kept on hitting him until her friends had run over too and began beating him also.  
  
Somehow the man was able to throw them all off with one flick of his wand and they were back against the wall.  
  
The cloak hood had fallen off the face of the man and they recognized who it was.  
  
"P-P-Professor Snape?!?" Bethany said astounded.  
  
"Yes. It is I. And I should have done away with you all when I had the chance instead of stalling. But now I have no need of it." He laughed loudly again so devilishly that Bethany could barely stand it.  
  
"Now I have someone better to do that for me." He said. A puff of silver smoke was appearing before them. First it was tiny and then it got larger and larger and larger. Until it was a huge cloud. When the smoke cleared, a man stood where it had been.  
  
This man was dressed in ragged robes, but his face was so horrible, that none of them could look. It looked dead. But it wasn't. It was alive and as horrible as it had ever been. It was Lord Voldemort.  
  
Voldemort fingered his wand. And looked at the students. "I will kill you all, but you will have your chance to fight if you wish." He said slyly. Their wands flew to them from across the room where Snape stood looking bored.  
  
Bethany grabbed her wand and held it tightly. She looked from Patrick, to Harry, to Ron, to Hermione, to Kiara who still sat in the middle of the room, to Ruby and they all looked back at her. They knew what they had to do. But before they could do it, a huge puff of green smoke popped out of no where and Fred and George appeared.  
  
"What???" said Voldemort cluelessly.  
  
"Hello shopper!" said George grabbing Voldemort's hand vigorously and shaking it hard.  
  
"We are going to sell you some wonderful objects that will make your life much easier!" said Fred.  
  
George gave Bethany a look that told her that they were making a diversion for them and they should run ASAP. Bethany remembered what Fred and George had given her. The ghost potion. If she drank that, then Voldemort wouldn't be able to see her! She drank a sip and got the attention of her friends and signaled for them to do the same when she passed them the bottle. By the time it reached the last person, Patrick, there was hardly any left.  
Bethany mouthed the magic words to them but they could barely understand that she was saying 'phantomahraya'.  
  
"Oh look at the time!" said George and he looked at an imaginary watch on his wrist.  
  
"Looks like we have got to be leaving!" said Fred and they disapperated out of the room in a flash. Voldemort's eyes were as red as ever as he looked from one student to the other and they all said "phantomahraya!" in unison. All except for Patrick who said 'phantomaralia!' and nothing happened. Though he didn't know it, he was still visible to the eyes of the others.  
  
They were running back as fast as they could to the hole in the wall, with Voldemort and Snape on their heels. They had to duck from the curses and hexes from Voldemort and Snape's wands because even though they were invisible, they could still get killed.  
  
Patrick, being still visible was just in front of Voldemort's wand when he shouted "AVADA KEDAVRA!" and Patrick fell to the ground. Bethany heard a thud and she looked back to see Patrick lying, eyes wide open on the ground.  
  
"She gave a loud shriek of terror and turned to run back to Patrick. Ruby grabbed her shoulder and yanked her backwards.  
  
"We can't stop now! He'll kill us too!" shouted Ruby.  
  
"I'm not leaving my friend behind!" screamed Bethany and she ran back to Patrick, Voldemort coming nearer and nearer with every second.  
  
She picked him up and half carried half dragged him as quickly as she could barely avoiding the curses and hexes of the two attackers, back to the hole.  
  
Once inside the hole, they couldn't stop. They still had to get back to the entrance. If they stopped, Voldemort would surely catch them.  
  
They stumbled out of the door and barred it shut. They all helped Bethany carry Patrick to Dumbledore's office and they knocked so hard on the door, that the door knocker started to tell them off.  
  
Dumbledore opened the door and he was in a night cap and a bathrobe.  
  
"What are you students doing up at this hour of the night?" he asked slowly.  
  
"Catching—attacker--- Patrick--- dead! Please--- help!" Harry said as he cought his breath.  
  
Dumbledore pulled them into his office and said no more. He quickly wrote a note and tied it to an owl's leg, opened the door, and the owl flew out. He checked Patrick's pulse and he slowly said, "Yes. He is dead I'm afraid."  
  
"Dumbledore! Voldemort! He's inside the school! Snape was the attacker!" shouted Harry.  
  
"I have already sent a letter to the other teachers to keep their eyes out for Snape. I figured it was him who did this. I have been watching him for quite some time now."  
  
It hadn't yet sunk into Bethany the fact that one of her best friends was dead. She suddenly burst into tears and so did Ruby and Hermione.  
  
Dumbledore sent them off to the hospital wing and told Madame Pomfrey to give them some chocolate and tea.  
  
After she forced the chocolate down their throats and they drank their tea, Madame Pomfrey gave them a sleeping solution and they reluctantly went to bed.  
  
Bethany couldn't think straight at all but the second her head hit the pillow, she drifted of into a deep sleep. 


	15. The Dream

Ch. 15 The Premonition  
  
As Bethany slept, she dreamed. She dreamed of Patrick and the horrible experience she had just gone through. After she had re-lived the ordeal in her head, Patrick spoke to her.  
  
"Bethany, I need you right now. Come to the Gryffindor common room. Don't forget about me. Remember. Thank you for bringing me back."  
  
Bethany awoke with a start to the sound of voices. Professor Dumbledore and the Minister of Magic, Fudge, were talking loudly.  
  
"Minster I think you should be a better judge on what we are talking about." Dumbledore said calmly.  
  
"We fired the man! What else do you want?" said Fudge.  
  
"We have already had 2 defective teachers at this school and this is the third. I want better security." Dumbledore said sternly.  
  
"We'll bring in dementors!" said Fudge.  
  
"No. I will not have those foul creatures in my school." Dumbledore announced.  
  
"Well then what do you want." said Fudge exasperatedly.  
  
"I want you to look deep into the records of the people you hire for staff in this school." Dumbledore said, ending the conversation and the voices ceased. Bethany heard footsteps fading away down the corridor. They were gone.  
  
"Oh look! She's coming to." she heard Hermione say. Bethany opened her eyes and sat up.  
  
Madame Pomfrey came over and felt her forehead.  
  
"You and your friends seem fine to me. But just to be sure, I can't let you go until the day after tomorrow." she said to her and she started to walk away but Bethany pulled her back.  
  
"I have to go up to Gryffindor common room. NOW." she said quickly.  
  
"Didn't you just hear what I said? I can't let you out anywhere 'til day after tomorrow and that's final!" she stated.  
  
"But I have to go beca--ahegh" Madame Pomfrey shoved another piece of chocolate into her mouth and pushed her back down on the bed.  
  
"You need bedrest before you can do anything. So whatever it is you have to do, it will have to wait another 2 days." Madame Pomfrey said and she stormed into her office.  
  
Bethany sat back up and re-told her dream to her friends. Harry thought for a moment, and then pulled his bag up onto his bed from where it had been on the floor. Then he pulled out the invisibility cloak they had used to get down to the dungeons.  
  
"Use this to get up there. As long as you don't take too long, we can stuff your bed and if Pomfrey comes out to check on us, we can tell her you fell back asleep again." said Harry and he handed her the cloak.  
  
"Thanks Harry! You're a life saver!" Bethany beamed at him and she loved him more than ever. "I'll tell you guys exactly what is up there if there really is anything up there." and she ran out the door. 


	16. A Face at the Door

Ch. 16 A Face at the Door  
  
Bethany hurried up to the common room, only passing peeves who was zooming around a 4th floor corridor waiting for someone to come by so he could taunt them.  
  
When she got there she said the password and stepped into the common room, no one was there. They were all at dinner. She looked around for something, anything, a sign, but didn't see anything.  
  
Feeling disappointed, she turned around and made for the door. Then a voice rang out.  
  
"You're not going to leave already?" the person asked.  
  
Bethany whirled around and came face to face with her best friend. Patrick.  
  
"But, you, Voldemort, dead, there, not, how!" she stammered. She went to hug him out of relief, but when she reached him, she felt a cold, icy feeling and fell to the floor, confused."  
  
"Yeah, I'm a ghost. I live down in the dungeons, cause that's where I was killed. But not in that corridor exactly where I died. Mostly near the Slytherins. Oh they'll pay. Hahhaa." He laughed.  
  
"I just..." Bethany paused, "can't believe your..." she paused again. "dead." She finished.  
  
"Really, neither can I. I hate being dead." He said angrily.  
  
"I'm so sorry! It's all my fault! I should be dead. Not you." She cried.  
  
"No, don't be sorry. You just wanted to help everyone and you did. Now no one has to worry about being attacked and the school won't be closed. And you can play quidditch . . ." at this last sentence he gave a look of longing and Bethany knew what he meant by it.  
  
"I know you loved quidditch. I'm sorry you can't play it again." She said quietly.  
  
"It's alright I guess. It was starting to get old anyways." He said but Bethany could tell he didn't believe what he was saying.  
  
"I'm sorry." She said again.  
  
"Thank you for bringing me back." he said, changing the topic a little.  
  
"Oh, it's the least I could have done." She said.  
  
"Tell the others I said hello and I'll see them around the school sometime." said Patrick.  
  
"Don't worry. I will. We're going to be in the hospital wing for the next few days, just so you know." She said to Patrick. "Pomfrey is all but locking us in there." She smiled. "I really should be getting back there now before she finds out I left."  
  
"Oh, alright." He said. "G' bye." He answered.  
  
"Bye." She gave one last look at her friend, and walked out of the portrait hole.  
  
She nearly sprinted back to the others to tell them what had happened and almost knocked over Justin Finch-Flecheley. When she got there, she re- told the story to her friends Ruby, Hermione, Harry, Kiara, and Ron. They found it hard to believe that Patrick was a ghost, but they were happy to know that they would actually be able to see the spirit of their friend whenever they wanted to. 


	17. GoodBye

Ch. 17 Goodbye  
  
Two days later, the students were reluctantly let out of the hospital wing by Madame Pomfrey. The first thing they wanted to do is go down to Hagrid's.  
  
On their way down, they met Donovan. He was talking to Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. They guessed he was purposefully being very loud so they could all hear him.  
  
"I'm so glad that stupid git Crane is dead. I couldn't be happier!" Before Donovan knew it, he was flat on his back with Bethany being the crap out of him. Harry and Ron joined in, Hermione screamed, and Kiara and Ruby just stood there watching, wide eyed. Bethany had never been so angry in her life.  
  
"DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING BAD ABOUT MY FRIEND!!!" Bethany screamed at him. Suddenly, Professor McGonnagle, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Trelawney stormed over.  
  
"What is going on here!" shouted Professor McGonnagle as she pried the three kids off the Slytherin boy.  
  
Donovan's nose was beeding and he had a black eye, Bethany's lip was bleeding, Harry's glasses had fallen off and his nose was bleeding, and Ron looked as if he had been punched in the cheek hard.  
  
"Ohhhh this is an ill omen Minerva!" stated Professor Trelawney. McGonnagle shot her a stern look and said, "20 points from Gryffindor!" The students glared at her as they walked away.  
  
"I hate Slytherins." snapped Bethany, wiping her lip on her robes. 


	18. The Train Home

Ch. 18 The Train Home  
  
The next day, the school gathered in the Great Hall and waited for the House Cup winner to be announced.  
  
Dumbledore rose from his seat and a hush fell over the room.  
  
"I know you are all waiting anxiously for the winner of the House Cup," said Dumbledore, "but I just want to say that next year, there will be a new potions teacher. The old one has," he shot a glance over to where Professor Snape's chair had been. "gone on a little vacation. To Azkaban prison." Everyone except Bethany, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Kiara, Ruby, Fred, and George gasped.  
  
"He has murdered a fellow student, and he has been caught. Patrick Crane of Hufflepuff has been murdered." Dumbledore paused. Some Hufflepuff girls screamed. "Therefore, I am giving Hufflepuff the House Cup in honor of Patrick Crane." Everyone clapped and some cried, but the Slytherins sat, unmoving.  
  
As the train pulled off that afternoon, Bethany, Harry, Kiara, and the rest of them sat in the same compartment that had on the first day. They didn't say anything about Patrick, but they were all thinking about him.  
  
When they got off the train, Bethany and Caleb went to meet their mother, who stood wearing a new, pink, fuzzy, boa and dark sunglasses, with a new man they hadn't seen before. He was wearing a leather jacket and had his hair slicked back. He was smoking a cigarette, but he was smiling. And it wasn't an evil kind of smile her mother's other boyfriends had had before. It was nice. Bethany smiled at her brother and she thought that this new boyfriend might turn out alright after all.  
  
Before she went over to her mother, she said goodbye to her friends who all gave her their condolences about losing her best friend and she gave hers back. Just as she was turning around to leave, she did a double take and saw just one flash of white light and the last trail of the end of a robe going back into the train. Bethany smiled and turned to leave with her mother. Only 2 more months until she would be back again.  
  
The End 


End file.
